Mara scrutinized him, noticing that his eyes lit up at the possibility of a challenge. “Why me? There are tons of small businesses trying to get a foothold.” And any one of them would kill to have the backing of a Sinclair.
Jared shrugged. “I like you. And believe me, that’s a novelty for me. I don’t like very many people other than my family.”
“Why?”
“Because most of them want something from me. You don’t, which fascinates me.”
Mara gaped at him, wondering what kind of world he lived in where he didn’t have anybody who cared about him as a person. “You don’t have friends? People that you trust other than your siblings?”
Jared’s expression turned dark. “Not since right after college. I learned from those mistakes.”
“You trusted somebody who burned you,” Mara guessed. Someone had hurt Jared Sinclair . . . badly. She winced inwardly at just how much some person must have betrayed him. It was obvious he’d never fully trusted anyone except his family again. “I’m sorry.” She wanted to ask who it was, and what they’d done to him, but she didn’t know him well enough to pry. It was obvious he’d never quite healed from the betrayal.
His eyes burned hot as their gazes locked. “Why? You didn’t do anything.”
Yet.
Mara could almost hear the word hanging at the end of his sentence. “Nobody deserves to have their trust in another person shattered. It hurts.”
“I got over it a long time ago,” Jared snapped.
Mara shook her head slowly, not breaking eye contact with him. “I don’t think you have.” In fact, she was pretty certain that he was still bitter. It showed in his lack of trust, his unwillingness to allow people into his controlled little world.
Jared smiled at her cynically. “Are you attempting to be my friend, Mara?”
“What if I am?” She wasn’t sure what she was doing. All she could feel was the urgency to make sure that Jared Sinclair could trust someone other than his family again. There was a hidden sorrow somewhere inside him. She could sense it, and it was eating at her.
Jared averted his gaze. “I’m afraid that would be impossible.”
“You want to do business together. How can we do that if you can’t learn to trust me?” she asked him breathlessly.
“That’s what legal contracts are for.”
“Are you planning on having your lawyers draw one up?”
“No,” he rasped, looking relieved when their lunch arrived.
Mara waited until the waiter had delivered Jared’s lobster rolls in front of him, and her fish special to her. After she assured the friendly teen that they didn’t need anything else, he departed.
She went through the motions, taking a bite of her fish and then the fries, wondering desperately what to say to Jared. “You need a contract,” she finally told him adamantly. “And I don’t see any reason why we can’t be friends.” For God’s sake, he’d had his tongue down her throat not so long ago. She’d hate to think that he wasn’t even a friend.
He began to devour one of the two lobster rolls he’d ordered, waiting until he’d finished it before commenting. “I think it would be very difficult to be friends with a woman who keeps my dick hard the entire time I’m in her company. I also don’t think I’d be imagining a friend naked and begging me to fuck her every time I look at her.”
Mara nearly choked on a sip of her water. She swallowed—barely—and coughed a few times after she’d gotten the liquid down. “I can’t believe you just said that,” she told him in a harsh whisper, more upset by her body’s volatile reaction in the middle of a restaurant than the fact that he had no problem talking dirty to her.
He paused and gave her a sultry, dark look that made her core clench so tightly that she had to clamp her thighs together.
“Why not? It’s the truth.” He looked around the restaurant. “It’s not like anyone could hear me.”
Mara flushed, her face heating so much she was starting to sweat. While it was true that nobody was seated that close to them, she was squirming from him just casually declaring that he was having those kinds of carnal thoughts about her. And Jared had no problem letting her know about them . . . boldly. “I heard you,” she squeaked.
“I know.” Jared shot her a mischievous look as he bit into his second sandwich.
“It’s not like I’m trying to make you think about . . . that.” God, she got even more hot and bothered just from looking at his teasing, sexy smile.
“I know that, too,” he admitted. “Doesn’t matter. I think about it anyway.”
Mara munched on her fish and chips, trying desperately not to let Jared Sinclair fluster her. “I’m not going to have this conversation with you in the middle of a restaurant.”
“Then we can have it once we leave,” he answered huskily.
“Business and pleasure don’t mix.” She was going to let him help her get a business off the ground. It wasn’t like her choices were many, and she wanted to make something of her life. Her mother and gran’s business was all but gone, and the business-minded part of her knew that she could have a modicum of success with her consumable products. Much as she didn’t want to take advantage of Jared’s generosity, she was going to let him be her business partner. She’d succeed; make sure she didn’t let him down. She doubted her paltry business would ever add much to his net worth, but she’d make it prosperous.